(A/N)

Well... I'm back... sort of. If anyone knows about my other Fanfiction, please understand that I'm sorry for not updating for a while. The reason why I haven't been updating stories... is because I haven't gotten the drive to do so. You see, other than this Fanfiction and another one, these are entirely original stories. Some of the others aren't, and it's like... how should I say this? It's like... because I'm not creating something unique, I can't seem to write. And so, I'm going to try to continue to update this story to get some... uniqueness into my head. And another thing, I've been constantly wanting to draw for ages, so I've been busy practicing how to draw and so on. If I do end up not updating for a long while, please forgive me. Have fun reading...

"...Home." I opened the door to my house, tired than I had ever been. The lights in the living room were turned on, so I could already guess that Jane was there. While the walk home had been annoying, learning for how long I've been in that school was more annoying.

"Huh, I thought you were already in your room. It's a surprise to see you coming home at this time, Jaune. What's the reason?" I stared at her, noticing that she was busy looking at her phone while wearing the casual black nightwear that she always wears before sleeping.

"I had a bit of trouble before leaving the school…" Hearing that, Jane moved her phone away from her face.

"Trouble? Do I have to beat someone down 'again'?" I sighed when she spoke so casually like that. For all means, I would love to have Jane handle my "problems" for me, but I think it would be unnecessary for the… predicament I'm in right now

"You don't have to worry about it, Jane, they aren't like those assholes from middle school. They are totally harmless." As she was laying down on her back on the chair, she finally decided to sit up straight. Wait, what's with that bandage that's on her face?

"'Harmless' was what you said a long time ago, Jaune. And before you knew it, your mistake ended up forming the Jaune that I see now. So… mind explaining what your problem is?"

"...And if I decide to go to my room and ignore you, would you get mad?"

"Depends. It's either you talk to me, or I tell Jeanne that you're having trouble expressing your problems to your sister. And I think we both don't want to have a scolding from her of all people…" We both groaned, thinking back to how "worried" Jeanne can be if I'm too distant from the family…

"...How can you tell someone that you want nothing to do with them? And I mean that in the meanest way possible." Jane's eyebrow raised, finding my "problem" to be weird.

"So… you're having trouble getting someone off your back? Oh, you mean that blonde girl that follows you like a pet? Well, if you want, you could-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Jane!" Suddenly, the feminine sound of a family member made us turn our heads to the source to where it came from. And… there's Jeanne…

"J-Jeanne?! What the hell are you doing?!" Jane yelled, finding what Jeanne was doing to be quite worrisome. Great, it's going to be one of those days again…

"Whatever do you mean, Jane? Is it wrong for the oldest of siblings in this household to be worried about their younger brother? How could you question the love of our family, Jane!"

"Stop with that family love crap! I don't want you to start your sentence about having some weird 'brother-problem-detector', crap! And plus, why the hell are you trying to enter the house through the window?! We have a door!" Since this was Jeanne, she somehow has this… weird feeling that she calls it, that makes her know when I'm having trouble; whether it's emotional or physical…

"Well, this was the quickest way of entering the room, Jane! Now, if you excuse me," Climbing through the window, she somehow made her entrance into the room to be flexible. "Jaune-Jaune, mind explaining to your dear oldest sister as to why you're having trouble with Marie? I thought you two were getting along nicely!"

"You're talking about a one-sided relationship that I don't want to be part of! I never asked her to keep following me! And what's with that-"

"Now, now, Jaune, you can't make it seem like Marie is some sort of nuisance to you! You're possibly her first friend, so why not try to get along with one another? She's a really nice girl, Jaune." Hearing "nice" and "girl" made me roll my eyes. I've been here before, and I don't want to be part of that anymore!

"She's annoying! I don't want her to be part of-" Before I could say anything else, I felt two arms suddenly drop on my shoulders from behind me. Recognizing that they were Jeanne's, I knew that something was wrong. She was just in front of me a second ago, so how could she have possibly gotten behind me so fast? Oh wait, I forgot that they were accustomed to their… 'powers'.

"Now, Jaune, I don't want you to turn around and see me, okay? It's really not nice to speak about someone so rudely when they're showing care towards you," When I looked at Jane, I could see fear in her eyes. And so… whatever she's seeing behind me… is probably the Devil. "So, Jaune, please remember that the ones that show you care are the ones who are the closest of friends. And if not friends, they are the closest to becoming friends! I can tell when you tried took Raphtalia to the nurse's office, Jaune." Okay, now that got me freaked out..

"H-how did you know about that?" With how dangerous Jeanne is right now, it'll be stupid to pretend that I didn't know what she was talking about.

"Oh, I know about everything when it comes to family, Jaune. It's best to not question it, okay? Now, I want you to go to your room, have some pleasant dreams because it's too dark out, and think about your relationship with Marie, okay? You too, Jane, you should have some pleasant dreams, too. Oh, I don't want to hear anything about giving tips to telling some to get lost, okay?" As I was still looking at Jane, she quickly nods her head before rushing out to her room.

Normally, Jeanne D'Arc is an angel…

But this Jeanne… was surely the Devil.

Another day. Another good day to be in school.

Except it's not.

"Jaune, are you okay?" Standing beside me, was Marie herself, looking concerned for some reason. Whether she was concerned or not, I didn't care. I just want to hurry and get away from her.

"...Yes, Marie, I am perfectly fine." Her concerned expression only furthers. Seriously, why must she continue to worry about me? Well, now that I think about it, everything that's been happening to me was because of her bad luck power thing. But, I'll hold that as a theory. Now, if that's correct, then, no matter where I go, whether if it's away from her, I will continue to live my life in bad luck. And if it's not true… then, I hate my life for all it's worth.

"Jaune… is there something wrong? You can talk to me, right? We're friends, remember?" I don't remember ever saying that we were friends. Why does she continue to insist that we're friends? I've been showing signs that I don't like her, so why does she continue to follow me? There was a brief instance where her hair had suddenly turned white, and then back to normal. That white hair wasn't hers.

"...Nothing's wrong, Marie. Just don't worry about me, and worry about yourself, okay?" As we were walking towards the gates of the school, I've noticed that people had been getting out of our way for some reason. No one here had a familiar face, and they continued to let us pass… what's going on?

"...Okay." When she responded, I looked to my left and down at her. I wasn't able to see her expression anymore because of her bangs, but I could tell that she was feeling nervous for some reason. The way she's rubbing her arm is showing all of the facts.

I was surprised to see that there wasn't a single word said from the people who stared at us nervously. No laughing, and no snickering. Nothing was heard from them. Nothing familiar at that fact. But as we managed to get passed them, and into the school, I noticed that Marie was still looking nervous. But, this time, I was able to see her saddened expression. It was… almost torturous to see her like that.

Why was it that I must have a human heart?

"Marie, why are you looking like that?" As I stopped in the hallway, she stopped as well. It was as if she was connected to me, she stopped as well. Great, now I feel even more creeped out. But, when I called her out, she seemed to jump a bit.

"W-what do you mean, Jaune? I'm fine." Averting her eyes from me isn't helping the one-sided thought of "I'm fine".

"You sure don't look like it. What, did those people do something to you? Well, if they did, then you should probably ignore them. Showing despair is exactly what they want, so it's best if you just-"

"How would you know?"

"Huh?" For her to cut me off like that took me off my guard. When I fully turned my body towards her direction, I could see that the bangs of her hair was in the way of me reading her expression. I… know this kind of scene…

"Why would you know how it feels, Jaune? Why would you know the feeling of being watched as if you're something lower than others? Why… do you still act as if there's nothing wrong with that mark on you?"

"Marie, hold on, what are you saying? What mark are you talking about? And I have my own business for my own information!" I still couldn't read her expression.

"Jaune, please don't panic…" After saying that, she started to unbutton the button on her collar. While this wasn't the place to make any jokes, it was until I saw something on Marie's neck, that I wanted to throw up. It was that scar again. No, it wasn't any scar… it was a scar that was wrapped around her neck. I saw a glimpse of it when we first met… but I thought it was a simple burn mark. Why… was there a scar on her neck as if… someone had… oh, I think I'm going to hurl!

"What… what is that, Marie?! Why the hell do you have that scar?!" While I started to back away from her a bit, I noticed that she was smiling. With her bangs moved away from her face, I could see her smiling face, but not without noticing the miserable and bleak tears that were about to move down her face.

"When… we first met, Jaune, I found out that you were different from the other people that I've met. You saw my scar, and yet, you didn't find it weird. I… don't understand, Jaune, why are you making that face? Why are you… looking so scared of me? Is it… ugly, Jaune? Am I… ugly, Jaune?" She started to walk towards me, and I couldn't do anything. My back was to the wall, and I couldn't do anything but continue to look at the scar that was wrapped around her neck.

"Jaune… you still haven't told me why you understand how it feels to be watched like that. Do… people hate you, Jaune? Do people hate your own existence? Tell me, Jaune, how are you so strong? How are you strong enough to continue to look at people with those hateful eyes?" I find myself slipping down from the wall. And when she was close enough, she crawls over me, reaching for my shirt.

"Stop!" I yelled at her to stop, but her hands went straight towards my collar, slowly unbuttoning it. And when she did, I felt her cold hand slowly rub my neck.

"I'm sorry, Jaune. I didn't mean for this to happen to you. Because of me, you're going to be everyone's next target." Target?! What is she talking about?!

"Why a target?! What are you talking about?!" With her other hand, she lowered her collar some more, letting me see the scar even more.

"Ever since I was young, people hated this scar of mine. People hated me, they loathed me, they looked at me with disgust… and yet, I'm still living with this scar. And because of this scar… you're going to be hated for it, Jaune. I'm sorry." Thinking back to what she had said before, my eyes widened in fear. No. No. No!

"Are you saying that… no, I won't believe you!" Her hands were back to her side.

"I'm sorry, Jaune," Looking down for a second, and then back at me, she looked at me with tears going down her face. "But, we have a deeper connection to each other. It's okay if you don't want to tell me about your past, Jaune. Because," For some reason, her green eyes glistened. Her face, which was still driven with tears, smiled once again. "Soon, I will know all about you, and you will know all about me."

And that's… when I pushed her off of me.

And then I ran.

I ran away from her.

I didn't care where this hallway took me, I had to run away from her. She's… she's crazy! I mean, "deeper connection"? She's joking, right? I can tell that someone as stupid as her would be joking!

I ran past two girls that had red and blue hair that were tied into pigtails. They looked like twins, but I didn't care.

I ran past two girls that had loose and long black and white hair. They looked like twins, but I didn't care.

All I wanted to do was run away.

Why must my life end up being so crazy? Why must there be someone in this life of mine, that wants to ruin my life? Soon… this life of mine is going to end up being crazier. And yet, I had no way of stopping this craziness.

After running for some time, I found the males bathroom. I... need to take a breather. I need to calm down and think everything through. Entering the room, I went to the sink and turned on the faucet. Splashing water on my face, I looked to the mirror, seeing how crazy I must've looked while running. It was funny when I looked at the mirror. All I could see was my own head in the reflection.

"Look at you, running away from a stupid girl, Jaune. It was a bad idea to come to this school, and you knew it. You… should just find a way to get the hell out of this school, Jaune. And then, you can live your life in peace and harmony. Away from others, and away from her." I told myself. To get some harmony, I needed to talk to myself to calm down. The only one that understands me… is me. As I stared down at the sink, I quietly watched the water slowly go down the drain… somehow like how my life was going.

"I'm sorry Jaune, but we won't be able to live in peace anymore…" Hearing that familiar voice, I looked up to see Marie standing next to me in the reflection of the mirror. But before I could say anything, she wiped what appeared to be white spots on the mirror, and what I saw was… unnerving.

A similar scare that was wrapped around Marie's neck… was wrapped around mine.

And to that, I quickly ran to the closest toilet and started to puke. And all the while, I felt someone's cold hands wrap around my back…

"I'm sorry, Jaune."